Protest staged for arrested students’ release
LUCKNOW: Under the banner of the All India Student Association, protesters hit the streets on Saturday, demanding immediate release of the 11 students who were arrested by police for waving black flags and obstructing chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s fleet outside the Lucknow University campus on Wednesday.
Carrying posters and banners, a number of unarmed students protested at the GPO park. They raised anti-BJP government slogans and criticised the administration for its ‘highhandedness’. However, police intervention forced them to call off the stir.
A protester, Anupam Yadav, said, “The present state government is trying to trample upon the democratic rights of students. They are not allowing us to raise our voice against increasing instances of attacks on dalits, minorities and women in UP. The Lucknow University wasted no time in suspending students and sending them to jail for opposing the chief minister.”
On the LU campus, Samajwadi Chhatrasabha members submitted a memorandum to proctor Vinod Singh. The memo said: “LU must roll back the suspension of the eight students who were involved in staging protest against the CM”.
In view of what constituted a breach of the chief minister’s security, LU had suspended eight students, debarring them from all varsity facilities. Students had breached the CM’s security by jumping before his fleet holding black flags. They were opposing his visit to the university. Due to the ensuing commotion, the CM’s fleet was halted for 2-3 minutes.
Bail application of all 11 student activists, including two girls who were sent to jail on Thursday, was rejected on Friday. The application was heard at the court of the additional chief judicial magistrate (ACJM) Sunil Kumar. The court rejected the plea as the students had been booked under serious criminal charges. Now, they will have to move the district and sessions court to seek relief. Earlier, on Thursday, the court of chief judicial magistrate (CJM) Sandhya Srivastava had sent the students to judicial custody.
The students are booked under IPC sections 147 (rioting), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant (police personnel)), 341 (wrong restraint), 353 (using criminal force to deter public servant), 504 (insult), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 120 (B) (hatching criminal conspiracy). The 7 Criminal Law Amendment (CLA) Act was also slapped on them.